What time is Maigret's Dead Man on TV?
ITV's adaptation of the mystery novel by Georges Simenon is set to air on Christmas Day, starring Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson's portrayal of legendary French detective Maigret is set to be one of ITV's star attractions this Christmas.
The first in the series, Maigret Sets A Trap, aired on ITV on Easter Monday this year. Now Atkinson is back with a new feature-length film for Christmas Day, Maigret's Dead Man.
Here's everything you need to know about the period crime drama.
What time is Maigret's Dead Man on TV?
Maigret's Dead Man is on ITV on Christmas Day 9pm.
Who plays Maigret?
The role of the French detective has a proud screen history, with Michael Gambon, Richard Harris and Rupert Davies all having starred as Maigret. Now it's the turn of Rowan Atkinson, who told Radio Times earlier this year he was hesitant about taking on the role.
“ITV asked me if I fancied playing the role,” he said. “I thought… perhaps not. I don’t think you can decide to play the leading role in a mainstream ITV drama without being reasonably certain that you can play the part at least as well as it can be played. If you think you’re just going to give it a go and see what happens, I don’t think that’s good enough. It went away for a while – then they said: ‘Are you sure?’ I thought about it again and decided I would. Rightly or wrongly, I thought that I could do more than have a go at it. So, I had a go at it.”
Who originally wrote Maigret?
Author Georges Simenon created the French detective, and he ended up featuring in a whopping 75 novels and 28 short stories between 1931 and 1972.
Maigret's Dead Man is based on the 1948 novel Maigret et son mort – the 29th Maigret novel. The story is adapted by writer Stewart Harcourt.
Will there be any more Maigret?
Yes! Rowan Atkinson will star in at least two more Maigret films for ITV, Night At the Crossroads and Maigret in Montmartre.
